Author: Susan Beth Pfeffer
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publication Date: August 13, 2013
Pages: 304
Source: Hardcover/Library
The eagerly awaited addition to the series begun with the New York Times best-seller Life As We Knew It, in which a meteor knocks the moon off its orbit and the world changes forever.
It's been more than two years since Jon Evans and his family left Pennsylvania, hoping to find a safe place to live, yet Jon remains haunted by the deaths of those he loved. His prowess on a soccer field has guaranteed him a home in a well-protected enclave. But Jon is painfully aware that a missed goal, a careless word, even falling in love, can put his life and the lives of his mother, his sister Miranda, and her husband, Alex, in jeopardy. Can Jon risk doing what is right in a world gone so terribly wrong?
Review: I didn't like this book as much as I loved the others. Jon was harder for me to like. I didn't like how he went along with Tyler and Zach on everything just to try and protect his step-mom from failing her examination. He could have stood up to them a little and her job would have probably stayed intact. He was just being cowardly about it because it was easier to go along with it than fight it. I also didn't like the way he acted in general. His mom had pretty much spoiled him and took care of everything in the past books so he felt a sense of entitlement to get what he wanted and to always have people to do it for him. I really didn't like that. I was actually much happier when he had to start learning how to do things on his own. I also hated how much he felt haunted by Julie. It was like she was always there haunting him no matter what he was doing. That got kinda old really quickly. I mean I get that he loved Julie but I thought this whole thing with her haunting him was getting old real quick. I also didn't like how he suddenly got violent when he was drunk or messed up. He was never that way before. And lastly, I really didn't like how easy it was for him to get mad at Miranda for what she did in the past to Julie so she didn't suffer. He was so easy to hate his own sister for that. He was just really cold in many parts of the book.
I did however like how hard he did try to protect his step-mom and stepbrother. I mean he probably didn't have to do as much as he did in regards to making sure his step-mom didn't lose her job, but it was nice seeing how much he wanted to protect the both of them. I also liked seeing how much he cared about Sarah even though they had their own fights. He tried also to protect her when his friends thought about doing bad things to her and I admired that. I did like how Jon loosened up at the end. He really let go of his anger and did the right things. He kinda forgave Miranda and helped her and Alex get their baby back after the people in the Enclave stole it from her. He also made sure Sarah and his stepbrother Gabe out of the Enclave safely after the baby stealing back. He even went back after that to try and save his step-mom but she had already taken matters into her own hands and killed herself after the baby situation. That made me really sad when she had the chance to get out with them. :( He also saved the domestic his family had when she ran off after the whole baby stealing, Gabe disappearing scenario. He had a real change in attitude at the very end.
I really didn't like the Enclave (Sexton). They treated so many people like dirt. Jon, Lisa (his step-mom) and Gabe were treated like dirt because they were "slips" (the term they used for people who got into Enclaves with passes). Sarah was treated like dirt because her dad kicked someones Grandpa out of a job (boo hoo). And the grubs (the people who didn't live in Sexton) got treated the worst. They were treated like they didn't deserve to live on the earth just because they couldn't get into an Enclave. Really? Even when Sarah said they were human beings too everyone just blew her off because they didn't see the grubs like that. All except Jon who did because most of his family was considered a "Grub." Honestly, people from the Enclave just went around killing whatever "Grubs" they wanted or sending them somewhere where they would pretty much die soon anyways. Like after the soccer game. They just went around killing "Grubs" and a few days later they killed Jon's mom (Laura) just for trying to protect her students from getting sent into Sexton. It was just horrible. I felt really bad for Jon because both woman he knew as his mom died in this book. Add on top of that his dad had died on the road before they even made it to Sexton and he had no parents left at all. All he had left was his brothers, brother-in-law, sister and niece. They all lost the parental figures in their lives and that really hit them all hard.
Overall, I thought the book was ok. There was a lot more that could have been put in to make it better. I would have liked to see more Miranda and Alex. They had such small parts in this book up until the end.
3 Stars!
I liked books 1 and 2 very much, but I DNF #3
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